The 2026 Zhejiang Urban and Rural Inflatable Volleyball Open opens at Jingning Station. Sports "traffic" activates urban fireworks

China News Service, Lishui, September 6 (Zhang Yuhuan) From September 5th to 6th, the 2026 Zhejiang Urban and Rural Air Volleyball Open (Zhejiang VA) Jingning Station was held in Jingning She Autonomous County, Lishui, Zhejiang. 54 teams and about 530 players from Wenzhou, Taizhou and Lishui entered the competition venue, and many family members, relatives and friends also came with them. In the gymnasium, serves, passes, and smashes are performed one after another; outside the gymnasium, visitors from the event enter hotels, B&Bs, restaurants, scenic spots, and streets.

What did Zhejiang VA bring to Jingning? The most immediate thing is the concentrated passenger flow generated by the two-day event; the more long-term one is the new connection that Jingning has established under this wave of "popularity". What Jingning hopes to leave behind is not only room and catering consumption during the game, but also making people willing to stop and go out, and still remember this beautiful She Township after the game.

Event breaks the circle, sports traffic activates urban fireworks

During the event, the accommodation market was the first to feel the popularity of the event, from urban hotels to B&Bs around Shexiang Fengqing Street. The Zhejiang VA Jingning Station is held on weekends. Many contestants bring their families, relatives and friends with them. The needs for accommodation, catering and travel also extend from individuals to families.

"This Zhejiang VA competition has driven a significant increase in hotel room bookings, and many of them are family guests staying with players and their families." Manager Chen of Phoenix Hotel in Jingning told reporters that many guests will also consult local travel guides after the competition, asking about Shexiang Fengqing Street, Qianxia Lake and Shejia cuisine. "They are not just staying for one night, some will stay in Jingning for a longer period of time. For the hotel, the competition not only brings room orders, but also allows more outsiders to get to know Jingning through the competition."

Sports "traffic" began to leave the venues. During the day, the contestants and their entourage competed and watched the competition in the gymnasium; after the competition, some people walked into Shexiang Style Street, Qianxia Lake, China Shexiang Window and other cultural and tourist spots. During the competition, activities such as the "Princess Parade" in Shexiang Customs Street were held simultaneously. Night tours of the ancient city, special markets, ethnic songs and dances, and She nationality delicacies provided participants with reasons to stay.

From serving, passing and smashing during the day, to the street lights and Shexiang singing and dancing at night, an air volleyball match extends from a single participation trip to a weekend excursion. The game is still the starting point of the journey, but it is no longer the whole story.

Using competition as a matchmaker, from "people coming and going" to "deeply rooted in people's hearts"

Transforming "people are here" into "Jingning is remembered" does not just rely on one game. The linkage between sports and tourism presented by Zhejiang VA Jingning Station is a continuation of Jingning’s continuous use of events to connect cultural and tourism resources in recent years.

The previously held Zhejiang Rural Health Run attracted more than 800 runners, and a single event directly drove consumption of more than 1.4 million yuan. Contestants can enjoy consumption discounts such as scenic spots and travel photography with their participation certificates. A Gongfu Village Fair is also set up around the competition venue to focus on the exhibition and sale of "Jingning 600" agricultural products and intangible cultural heritage handicrafts.

China’s Shexiang “March 3rd” Pig Driving Competition combines ethnic sports, folk experiences and rural tourism, attracting nearly 10,000 tourists. In the cross-country race around Chimushan, more than 70% of contestants from outside the county accounted for more than 70% of the contestants. Many contestants came to Jingning with their relatives and friends, and the average stay was 3 to 5 days.

These events jointly show that Jingning’s competitions are no longer limited to competition organizations in venues, but are continuing to explore ways to connect events with scenic spots, accommodation, catering, intangible cultural heritage experiences and agricultural product sales.

"Undertaking provincial-level mass events like Zhejiang VA, which are lower-tier counties, will test not only the venue and competition organization capabilities, but also the city's comprehensive ability to convert event traffic into cultural and tourism increments." The relevant person in charge of the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Jingning She Autonomous County said that Jingning is promoting pre-matching of event organization and cultural tourism promotion. By integrating accommodation, catering, scenic spots and other resources, participants can have a more complete She Township experience in addition to completing the competition.

Compared with the consumption generated in two days, the contestants' recording and sharing of Jingning may last longer. A video of a competition, a set of landscape photos, and an experience in Shexiang will enter the eyes of more people through Moments and short video platforms.

The competition comes to an end, accumulating the county’s long-term ability to host competitions

From pre-match preparations to official operation, the Zhejiang VA Jingning Station involves many aspects such as competition organization, venue operation, volunteer services, transportation reception, security and cultural and tourism supporting facilities. Whether the competition can proceed smoothly, whether participants can arrive easily, and whether accommodation and sightseeing needs can be met, these issues jointly affect the running quality and participation experience of the event.

During the event, part of the resources for organizing the event also extended outside the venue. Shen Dajun, director of the event management committee, gave a lively "open class" to nearly a hundred local Jingning inflatable volleyball enthusiasts. From the breakdown of basic movements to the explanation of tactical coordination, he taught inflated volleyball skills to grassroots enthusiasts step by step, allowing grassroots enthusiasts to have access to professional guidance at their doorsteps. This kind of "sending technology to the countryside" has also accumulated more mass base for Jingning's daily development of air volleyball sports.

This year, Jingning plans to focus on promoting more than 45 events of various types. At the same time, the main structure of the Jingning National Fitness Center (swimming pool) with a total investment of 320 million yuan has been capped in May. After completion, it will further improve local public sports services and event hosting conditions.

Every time an event is held, it is a practical test of venue facilities, personnel teams and support processes. Based on the present and focusing on the long term, Jingning has jumped out of the "two-day short-term account" and deeply cultivated the long-term development of the integration of sports and tourism. It continues to gather people, prosper the city and enrich the people through competitions, making sports events a lasting driving force for the high-quality development of She Township.